Members,

I have a 2001 F-150 XLT 5.4 w/ Off Road 4x4 package. I have used the truck in 4WD many, many times, here and out west. The truck was never abused and has been well maintained over the years. The only 4WD glitch occurred in 2002, when the truck was not evern one year old, when my wife, thinking the 4WD **** was the heater blower **** (they are the same shape and are right next to each other), turned the **** to 4WD low while the truck was moving at highway speed. After a brief moment, I reached over and shifted the **** back to the 2WD position. This was when the truck was brand new and since then I have operated the truck in both modes of 4WD many, many times without a problem. I used the 4WD in November 2009 with no problems.

During the snow storm last week I discovered a problem with my "shift on the fly" 4WD system. The truck would not shift into 4WD High; the light would come on but no 4WD. The switch made the "click" noise when moved to 4WD High but the 4WD would not engage. I stopped and followed the procedure for 4WD Low and tried it. It seemed like it was in 4WD and I heard the "clunk" noise that I usually get when shifting into 4WD low. Then when I stopped and tried to shut down the 4WD system, the truck would not shift out of 4WD. After a couple tries, the truck came out of 4WD and all indicators went out. The truck seemed to drive normally in 2WD.

A few days ago I had some time to check this problem out at work in our large yard (with varied and uneven terrain). The truck would not shift into 4WD. I tried a variety of maneuvers and everything indicated that the truck was not in 4WD. The indicator lights were illuminated but there was no 4WD drive tension in the steering wheel and the jerkiness that is exhibited when turning the steering wheel lock to lock while moving forward in 4WD was not present. I had a competent observer help me while I deliberately got the rear wheels stuck in ice and snow so we could see if the front wheels would go when the 4WD was engaged. They would not. After getting the truck unstuck in 2WD (we had access to large tractors in case I could not get unstuck), we tried a few more things but the front drive shaft did not appear to move. The guy who was helping me (a truck owner) agreed that the 4WD was not engaging. We tried again today with the same results.

Kevin of Illinois, a Ford F-150 4X4 owner, said he had to replace a fiberglass rod or something ($300 job) to get his 4WD switch to work again. He wasn't sure what the part was and since I got the information third hand, I could not quiz him on his repair. The mechanic who repairs all of our Crown Vic police cars here in town (also a Ford 4x4 owner but with manual 4WD shift) said that it might be a vacuum problem for shift on the fly. I don't know what is wrong. Need some help and some good advice. I was planning on going to Moab, Utah, in April to go 4x4. Need to get this fixed.

I would guess that this topic has been discussed before on these forums. If so I am sorry for clogging up the forums. Give me the link if there is something out there. Thanks ahead of time.

Tony Mireles
Calumet City, IL

 

its probly the 4x4 actuator on the front diff

 

Thanks Steve,

I finally had the time to look thru this part of the forum and have found it is nothing but 4WD shift problems. I have been reading 4x4 shift problems for an hour now. Wow.

Hope to get this fixed soon.

TonyM.

 

yea no prob there are alot of people with 4x4 problems but when ever the 4x4 light comes on its usually the front diff actuator cause the light coming on indicates tht the transfer case is engaged

 

please tell me(us) steve if the new and improved "fork" is in the front diff, or is in the transfer case. I have the same symptom as tony above and am not sure how to procede. any help is appreciated